


Chess

by Mishikaiya



Series: Commonwealth Constellations [3]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Memories, Minor Game Spoilers, Romance, reference to dead character, reference to past relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-12 02:10:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7080385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mishikaiya/pseuds/Mishikaiya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hancock and Orion have been together for a few weeks and traveling together for far more but when Orion brings chess into her Sanctuary home it comes with more than just a board game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chess

Hancock eyed the addition to the coffee table. “You brought home a chess board? Why?”

“Fahrenheit mentioned some chess metaphor and I figured I’d keep an eye out for one. I used to play all the time,” Orion replied, taking a place on the floor.

“Hunh. Never been much of a chess player myself. Politics and shit in the Commonwealth are enough mind games for me.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” Orion reasoned, nodding her head, legs crossed under her as she set up the pieces. She had considered asking him to play but left it alone since he seemed disinterested.

Over the next week, Orion slowly played a match against herself from one side of the table, challenging herself to see it from the one side. Sometimes it was before bed, sometimes after a mission. Whenever the mood struck her, she’d seat herself on the floor and get that look of concentration on her face.

Hancock loved it. Those bursts of joy when she had a revelation. How she’d scrunch her face before letting go of a piece, not entirely sure if it was the right move to make. The eyebrow raise when she was questioning everything. The contemplative “huh.” It was a pleasure to watch. So many nights he found himself kissing the top of her head before crawling into bed, Orion usually following shortly after.

One night, Hancock came up the steps to see her in her classic cross-legged position in front of the board, contemplating. He knew she’d been there awhile already judging by how long the light had been on.

“You coming to bed?” Hancock asked, as he removed his jacket and placed it on the coat rack Orion had insisted on building.

“Yeah, yeah. Just wanna make one more move,” Orion replied, waving her hand, eyes still on the board.

Hancock would be lying if he said he hadn’t been paying attention to more than just Orion. He had watched every move she’d made, managing to keep his thoughts to himself. He sat across the coffee table from Orion, looked at the pieces, and made a move on the board.

Her eyes jumped from his hand to his face. “I thought you didn’t play?”

“I learned but eventually playing with people in the Commonwealth meant someone might start picking apart my strategy and applying it outside the game. Too dangerous,” he shrugged.

Orion’s gaze turned soft. “Makes sense,” she paused, “if a little dramatic. But I get not wanting to take chances.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “Want to play?” she asked, eyes searching his.

Hancock shrugged. “Why not? You already know how I operate and I trust you not to use that against me.”

Orion gave him a sly grin.

“Outside of the game, I mean.”

“Uh huh.” A suggestive eyebrow waggle.

The two played the game through with Hancock barely besting Orion. “That win doesn’t count. You didn’t play from the start. I set you up pretty good.”

He laughed, “Alright, alright.” He knew that wasn’t an argument he could win. “Rematch?” he asked, hands putting the pieces back.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

As they played, Hancock couldn’t resist asking, “So why chess?”

Orion kept her eyes on the board while she talked, half staring into her memories. “I grew up playing it with my parents. In high school, Nate came up to me one day, challenging me to a match. If he won, he could take me on a date. If I won, he’d never ask again. His terms. He put up a decent fight but in the end he was no match. I went out with him anyway,” she shrugged.

Hancock’s eyes strayed from the board to Orion’s face. There was a mixture of emotions there, shifting like waves on the sea. Glimpses of nostalgia, loss, wistfulness.

“We kept playing all through our courtship and then our marriage. He got better. Even won every now and then. He would,” a laugh, “he would bet chores on a game. He’d say, ‘want to make it a little more interesting?’” She shook her head as she smiled.

“You were happy,” Hancock quietly commented.

The corners of her mouth drew down slightly, lessening her smile. She met Hancock’s eyes. “Like all things, our relationship wasn’t perfect but chess...chess was always perfect between us.” Her hand lingered over a knight. “I’ve missed it.”

Hancock shifted, “Listen, we don’t need to keep playing at those memories…”

“No, no!” She waved her hands. “This is...it’s not any kind of replacement. I just want to make new memories.” A slight tilt of the head. A soft smile. “With you. Chess is just...sentimental for me. It’s marked a lot of my life and it only seems fitting it continues to do so.”

Hancock reached across, taking Orion’s hand. “I’m really lucky you chose me to make these memories. But when I win, you might regret it,” he added with a wink, voice taking a lighter tone.

Orion pulled her hand away and gave his a light smack.

“Ass. Your move.”

As time went on, Hancock and Orion decided to make their games more interesting. If you lost a piece, you had to pop a mentat to keep the other player on their toes. Loser would have to do mundane chores around the settlement. Orion once upped the ante high enough to include telling Piper an embarrassing story worthy of her paper. Hancock even bothered coming up with “sexy chess” which had Orion rolling her eyes.

“You know you want to play,” Hancock said in his best goading voice, waggling his brow ridge.

After making a show of her eye-rolling, Orion gave Hancock that smile. The one that always caught his attention whether he’d been looking or not. The soft eyes, the slight upward curve of the lips, head tilted, arms usually crossed. Her body language at conflict with her expression. Usually because she had been teasing Hancock before her face settled into complete honestly.

He stepped away from the board, hands reaching for Orion. She stood straighter as he approached, arms falling at her sides, head tilting slightly upward to keep eye contact. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, pressing his forehead to hers as he felt her arms encircle him. They breathed in deep, closing their eyes.

“You have to stop that,” he whispered.

“Mmm?”

His eyes opened again to look into hers. “That look. The one that...makes me hope.”

Orion hesitated, unmoving. “Hope for what?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

Hancock closed his eyes again, scrunching his face. “It’s tricky.” Their breath mingled in the small space between them and he swore he could hear both their heartbeats, tempo rising. His hands clutched the back of Orion’s shirt a bit tighter. He was sure if they both kept whispering, the world wouldn’t dare interrupt. The moment would be untouched, theirs forever.

He took another deep breath and when he let it out, he loosened his grip and opened his eyes, seeing Orion’s searching his expression, lips slightly parted. “I hope you feel the same, as deeply as I do.” He made a scoffing sound, shaking his head briefly, still pressed to her forehead. “In what lifetime could I have ever earned you. Your friendship, your trust, your…”

Orion kept her eyes steadily on Hancock’s, watching his expression turn from pained to desperate. “Love,” she finished. His eyes met hers, the dare to hope resting on the precipice. She pulled her arms from around him, letting her hands rest on his hips. She gripped the fabric of his pants, thumbs under his shirt, tracing the skin there. A breath in, words out. “John Hancock.” A smile. The smile. “I love you.”

His eyes searched hers a moment and found the assurance he needed. He opened his mouth on the verge of a smart-ass comment when Orion pulled him forward, kissing him. That night the two had no need for Hancock’s “sexy chess.”

**Author's Note:**

> A big thanks to Ocheeva for being the first to read this and basically being my beta. <3


End file.
